Faulty Basil urged to rescue fellow crooks from the Hatton hell

A MYSTERY accomplice, known only as Basil in the infamous, 2015 Hatton Garden raid, has been urged to hand back millions of pounds by his fellow robbers, because their sentences have been extended.

Brian Reader, 78, Terry Perkins, 69, and John ‘Kenny’ Collins, 77, ringleaders of the 2015 London heist, were last week ordered to pay back £6.45m of spoils each, from the safe-deposit centre break-in, or face another 3½ years inside.

That comes on top of the seven years already being served for the £14m Hatton Garden heist.

Reader and Perkins, suffering major health injuries in jail, were believed to be the only gang members who knew Basil’s true identity. But Perkins died from a suspected heart attack on Monday, six days after learning of the extra money he had to find.

Sources say they the others are trying to reach out to Basil, said to be hiding somewhere in Spain, to ask him to hand back a large share of the spoils under his control.

Reader, also known as “The Master”, lost out on his portion of the swag after deciding not to take part, when the gang, dubbed the “Diamond Wheezers”, failed to break into the vault at the first time of asking, during the 2015 Easter bank holiday.

But they were successful the following night, although Perkins was caught red-handed with his share of the loot six weeks later.

Basil, who was able to conceal his face from CCTV cameras completely, was the only gang member to escape the cops.

He ended up with three suitcases of jewellery and gold bars, and is believed to have grabbed treasures after hiding when the Flying Squad pounced.

Police don’t know much about the raider, thought to be a South London villain in his seventies, but his banged-up pals are pleading with him to to come to the rescue.

Reader, Collins and Jones all own property in Britain and abroad, as did Perkins, and Collins also has £500,000 in a bank account.

But a source told The Sun: “Basil ended up with the lion’s share of the dough. The others are desperate for him to hand back a good percentage of it, or else they will die in prison.

“There is no way Brian or Kenny will survive it. They had been due to get out at the end of summer this year on the burglary sentences, but that now looks like a pipe-dream.”

Detectives hope the extra seven years will persuade Reader to name Basil. But Fred Foreman, former gang boss and blagger, involved with Perkins in the 1983 Security Express cash robbery, said: “There is no way Reader will ever give up any names, and neither would Perkins have done. Reader is a solid, reliable man, as was Perkins; otherwise, they wouldn’t have been on that job.”

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on Feb 9 2018. Filed under World News.
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